Kevin Durant can still close; Suns defended, protected ball; Takeaways from OT road win over Nuggets

DENVER – Kevin Durant can still close the show.

He doesn’t have the same lift or explosiveness, but the 35-year-old Durant showed once again why he’s an all-time great in leading the Phoenix Suns past the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets, 117-107, Tuesday night in overtime before a sellout crowd of 19,589 at Ball Arena.

Not only did he score eight of his game-high 35 points in overtime, Durant nailed a 3 with 26.6 seconds left to tie the game at 102-102 and force overtime after missing his first five from deep.

The future first-ballot Hall of Famer launched 34 shots, three shy of his career high in attempts, made just 14, but connected when it counted in making his last four shots from the field.

This was after the Suns blew a 22-point lead as they went on a dominant 23-1 run during a 5-minute, 18-second span in the second quarter.

This was after Phoenix scored just 12 points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-24 shooting, showing once again it struggles to finish games.

This was without Devin Booker, who missed a second straight game with a right ankle sprain suffered in Saturday’s home loss to Houston.

The Suns needed this one.

They’re already facing the toughest remaining schedule in the league.

They were without Booker as well as Josh Okogie (abdominal) and Nassir Little (knee), but Grayson Allen erupted for eight 3s on eight attempts with four coming in the first quarter in scoring 28 points.

Bradley Beal shook off a 6-of-18 shooting night to score 16 points with five coming in overtime and Jusuf Nurkic did as good a job as one can do on two-time MVP Nikola Jokic before fouling out in the fourth.

The Suns squandered the lead, but Durant came through to show those who forgot his greatness.

Here are several takeaways as Phoenix (36-26) snapped a two-game skid, ended a six-game win streak for Denver (42-20) and evened its season series with the Nuggets at 1-1.

Mark your calendar for the third and final regular season matchup: March 27 in Denver.

If the playoffs started now, the Suns and Nuggets would meet for a second straight postseason as Phoenix is sixth in the West and the Nuggets are third.

Oh boy.

More impressive: 23-1 run or 12-2 start to OT?

The latter only because it came after Phoenix squandered a 22-point advantage. Had the Suns won by 20, this would be all about that run. They don't win without it, but the 12-2 start ensured that the earlier run wasn't wasted.

The Suns forced a turnover after losing the tip and Allen stole a Jokic pass. That led to Beal finding Drew Eubanks, who started the OT after replacing Nurkic, for a dunk to give the Suns the lead.

Then Jamal Murray turned the ball over, Durant hit 3 on the other end and the Suns were up five.

Michael Porter Jr. answered with a nice step through to the rim, but by the time Denver scored again, Phoenix had built a 10-point lead off a five-point burst by Beal and Durant dagger jumper to put Phoenix ahead, 114-104, with 1:25 left.

Beal needed this.

The three-time All-Star has missed essentially half the season with multiple injuries, is coming off a hamstring injury and has heard doubters question why the Suns traded for him.

He answered that question in OT.

The Suns need him to compete for a title. Last season proved as great as Booker and Durant were in the playoffs, they weren't enough. Beal is that third scoring option who can facilitate the Suns' needs.

Three things in that 12-2 run

One, Beal can be that catch-and-shoot guy as well as a downhill driver. Probably needs to take more of those catch-and-shoot 3s considering the way teams defend the Suns, but getting into the lane for layups is something he can do as well, if not better, than Durant and Booker.

Two, Royce O’Neale is a closer in the sense that he’ll defend and protect the ball. He had just one turnover in 39 minutes. One. He was also called upon to guard Jokic on the final play of regulation as the leading candidate for a third MVP missed the running jumper that would've given Denver the win.

Three, the Suns are 16-13 on the road. Decent, but considering 12 of their last 20 games are on the road, they’re going to be in these situations when the home team rallies back.

Having composure on offense and getting stops on defense is how you win on the road.

Fewer turnovers, defense won it for the Suns

Yes, Durant delivered in the clutch as did Beal, and Allen was unconscious from 3 in hitting his first eight, but the Suns won this game because they protected the ball and defended without fouling.

They had just 10 turnovers that led to only 13 Denver points. Only one of those turnovers came in overtime and the Nuggets didn't turn it into points.

This is after coughing it up 22 times Sunday against Oklahoma City. The Thunder cashed in 31 points off those. Denver doesn't force turnovers like OKC, but the Suns may have learned their lesson.

Maybe not. Check back in a week.

Second, they limited the Nuggets to 42.7% as Jokic shot 8-of-18. He scored 25 points, grabbed 16 rebounds, but also had seven turnovers, two shy of tying his career high.

Nurkic clearly has an idea of how to defend him, but the Suns as a team, made it tough on the big fella. Jokic controls the game with his passing, but had just five assists. Keeping that number down is paramount when playing against him.

Nurkic still fouled out trying to guard him as Jokic caught him on two to the basket for those last two fouls. Frank Vogel keeping him in the game when he had four fouls in the third and picking up a fifth late in the quarter was a head-scratcher, but hard to argue the decision to stick with Nurkic because of how well he was guarding Jokic.

Now to be real, Denver missed some makeable shots. Jamal Murray scored a team-high 28, but missed both his FGAs in OT. Michael Porter Jr. added 20, but went 4-of-12 on 3s.

The Suns gave up just 107 points in 53 minutes. That's where the game was won.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Takeaways from Phoenix Suns' road win over Jokic, Denver Nuggets